Chapter 4:
Nicole liked her quiet nights in, she liked snuggling with Calamity Jane, she liked wearing messy clothes and eating takeaways, she liked watching whatever stupid program was on at the time. Quiet nights in were perfect, in her book. Nothing could beat it.
So imagine her surprise when she found Waverly Earp hijacking her night, onesies and cupcakes in hand, an excited grin on her face, standing outside Nicole's flat.
"Hi, Waves? What're you doing here?" Nicole questioned, eyes flickering from the cakes, to the onesies, then to Waverly with a raised eyebrow. Waverly simply smiled before bouncing past Nicole and into the living room, throwing the things in her hands on to the coffee table in front of the sofa before plopping down with a huff.
"We need to plan what we do and say when your parents come, Nicole." Waverly told her, like it was the most obvious thing in the world, "You know me, I'm a planner. We're going to be the best couple ever. Oh- fake! Fake couple, of course!" She stuttered, fidgeting with her hands, before looking over at the coffee table, her eyes lighting up with excitement. "And what better way than to talk over cake! I also brought onesies, it'll be cute!" Waverly exclaimed, blushing slightly, looking back down at her hands. "I never really had days like this when I was younger, and what better way to start, than with you? Uh- because we're friends! Best friends!" Waverly yelped, looking completely flustered. Nicole let out a hearty laugh, closing the front door and walking over to the girl in front of her.
"A simple 'let's hang out' would have sufficed." The redhead joked, but she made a move to sit on the sofa next to the shorter woman.
"Nu-uh!" Waverly protested, "You've gotta go put this on, silly!" She said, reaching for the clothing on the coffee table and handing it over to Nicole with a grin, completely serious.
Nicole took it out of Waverly's hands with a frown, "You know I won't fit into your clothes, right?" Nicole pointed out, but Waverly only laughed.
"I already thought about it, and after a lot of protests, Wynonna said you could borrow hers, though she followed the offer up with a 'If Haughtshot tells anyone I own one I'll throw her down a well and cover the exit up. Don't test me.' But I'm pretty sure she's joking.." Waverly trailed off, frowning, before shaking her head and turning back to Nicole, "But you best not say anything, just in case." She finished with a laugh, pushing Nicole towards her room insistently, and without further complaint, Nicole made her way to her room, onesie in hand, a small smile on her face.
****
Honestly? Nicole felt ridiculous. She was dressed up like a bunny, she had ears, a fluffy tummy and a little ball as a tail for good measure. The ears kept flopping into her face, so every now and then she'd have to flick them out of the way. The smile on Waverly's face when she walked out the room though? That made it so, so worth it. "You look adorable!" Waverly shouted, smiling from ear to ear. But Nicole's outfit didn't hold a candle to Waverly's. The latter had a bright green dinosaur onesie, with all the spikes on the back, a long pointed tail and her hood was a head with teeth on it. Nicole was pretty jealous.
"I think I should be wearing that one" Nicole stated with a huff, though a smile was stuck on her face despite herself. Waverly shook her head in protest, walking over to Nicole and tapping her on the nose.
"Nope, I like it, it's cute." She complimented, smiling so bright that her nose scrunched up. It was the most endearing thing Nicole had ever seen. "Anyway! Sit, sit, sit! We have a bunch to do!"
Waverly grabbed her hand and tugged her over to the sofa, the gesture was simple and innocent, but it left the whole of Nicole's arm tingling and her stomach fluttering. She smiled to herself, enjoying this attention. They don't usually spend so much time together without the other's being there too, so this was a welcomed change. Nicole would wear a bunny onesie any day if it meant also having Waverly with her.
"What should I expect, what are your family like?" Waverly asked, diving straight in the deep end. Nicole hesitated, it's not that she didn't like talking about them, it's that talking about them reminded her of how little she sees them, which makes her feel a little sad.
"Well, Mama can be a tough cookie, it takes her a while to decide if she likes a person, but once she does, you're best friends for life. She's a softy after that, she'll pry though. She'll want to know everything that brought you to where you are now, she looooves questions, so you should get on like a house on fire." Nicole paused to wink at Waverly. "And Daddy is easily pleased, if you like a beer and discovery channels, you're set." Nicole stopped once again, squinting her eyes slightly in thought, before opening them wide and looking off into the distance. "God, they are going to love you so much." Nicole whispered, realising just how perfect Waverly was, though a hint of sadness niggling somewhere there, knowing that it wasn't real. It made Nicole feel bad, knowing she'd be bringing someone round that her parents would adore, knowing that in the end they would have to be told that the two were no longer together. Nicole couldn't lie forever.
"And, your sister?" Waverly asked, changing directions, seeing that something had bothered Nicole about the subject they had been on.
"Oh, she's a joker. I wouldn't mind betting that she and Wynonna would become the best of friends. She'll know that it's not real though, so you don't have to prove anything to her, don't worry. She has a husband, James, and two amazing kids, Thomas and Jane. I'm not sure if they're coming, though. It'll probably just be Nancy." Nicole said, though she really had no idea, none of her family had filled her in at all "Really, you only need to be there the once, I'm not asking you to spend the whole week pretending with me." She reminded Waverly, wanting to make sure she knew that there was no pressure.
"With the way you just described your Mama, I don't think there's a chance of that happening." Waverly joked, laughing, before continuing. "Besides, I don't mind, I'm excited to meet them, it'll be so fascinating to see the people that influenced you and built you up into the person you are now, and you're wonderful, so they must be pretty great." She grinned, and damn it, Nicole felt the butterflies flutter through the whole of her body. This girl is going to kill her.
Waverly suddenly jumped up and made her way over to the fridge. She reached in and grabbed a beer, before moving to the draw next to it to grab a bottle opener, flicking the bottle cap off and moving the bottle to her mouth.
Nicole had turned her whole body around to watch what Waverly was doing, resting her arms on the back of the sofa and her head on her arms, just peering over towards the kitchen. She hadn't intended on staring, but seeing Waverly wonder around her home like it was second nature was warming her heart up and sending her mind into a frenzy. This was all so dangerous. She liked this girl far too much for this plan to be healthy in the long run. In that moment, Waverly looked back towards the other woman and must have realised that she hadn't asked, because she was suddenly looking really sheepish.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't think! I-I don't even know what had me thinking it was okay to just come into your home and act like I'd moved in.. I'm-I'm sooo sorry Nicole." Waverly apologised, looking really put out, putting the drink on the kitchen counter, acting as if it had scolded her.
"No, it's okay, Waves. What's mine is yours, help yourself." Nicole reassured, turning back around so she could control her breathing. Calamity Jane walked out of the bedroom then, heading over to Waverly and nudging her with her forehead.
"Hey, CJ!" Waverly cooed, and Nicole thought the world might just be mocking her at this point. "Do you want some food? Come on, cutie!" Waverly said, putting some fresh food down for the cat, who meowed her thanks, "Oooh that's okay, good girl!" Waverly squealed, excited. "I love this cat!" She told Nicole, though she was already aware of this, Waverly insisted on showing Calamity Jane affection anytime she visited. The redhead was certain that CJ liked Waverly more than her, but she couldn't really blame her for that. "So.." Waverly started, and Nicole knew that this was the more awkward part of their conversation, so she let the shorter woman control where the topic went. "Boundary wise.. What is the plan?" She finished, hesitant.
"The ball will always be in your court there, Waves. Nothing you're uncomfortable with." Nicole stated with confidence, knowing that one of them had to be, though she definitely didn't feel the same inside.
"We both need to be okay, though. Not just me." And she was right, but Nicole had no problems with anything that was said, or done. The only problem was that it wasn't real.
"Well, I can adapt pretty well, I've been with women before. This is new for you, so you need to figure out where you stand, what you can and can't do. There is no pressure, I mean it. And, if you're finding the situation awkward, I can find someone-"
"No! I mean- I- No, it's okay. I can do it, I just- I might need to work on it." Waverly said, and Nicole wasn't too sure what that meant, but she decided to just nod and let Waverly take the reins on this one.
****
'Ding Dong'
"Food!" Was all Waverly said before she was scrambling to get to the door, Nicole following behind, laughing as she went. Waverly happily took the pizzas out of the delivery man's hand, practically sprinting to the coffee table to get everything out and start eating. Nicole gave the man the money and tipped him too, before heading over to the food too.
"You're like a kid at Christmas right now, huh?" The taller woman laughed, smiling down at Waverly, who had inhaled half a slice of pizza in one go.
"It's pizza, Nicole. What did you expect?" She questioned, disapprovingly. She glared at Nicole before going back to happily eating her food. Nicole laughed once more before settling down and eating her own pizza.
This whole night had been overwhelming, to say the least. They had chatted the whole time, about everything and anything. It really was so nice. Yet so stressful, too. Being this close to Waverly really sent the whole of her body into overdrive, she felt like she was constantly trying to hold a part of herself back in order to not give her feelings away.
Nicole couldn't shake the little thought in her head away, the one saying that this felt so much like a date. She wasn't going to torture herself with those thoughts, because if she started, she'd never stop, and it'd make things awkward.
"Hey, why aren't you eating?" Waverly asked, nudging her side with her elbow while simultaneously eating a slice of pizza. Nicole looked over at her and smiled, before looking down at her hands, finally settling on the pizza in front of her. She grabbed a slice and took a bite, allowing her thoughts to quieten down for now, letting herself just enjoy this moment.
They were quiet for a while, both focussing on eating, but it wasn't long until the silence was broken.
"Did you and Rosita date, back then?" Waverly asked, causing Nicole to look over. This question seemed like it had wanted to come out for a while, and she looked really nervous to have asked, but also seemed like she really wanted to know.
"We didn't date, per say.." Nicole trailed off, hoping that Waverly would take that answer as good enough and move on, but she wasn't so lucky. Waverly was watching her, waiting for her to continue, so she sighed and looked down. "We would mess around, have some fun. I didn't want to settle down, she didn't either. It worked. Neither of us were clinging onto the other, it was a straightforward thing, and we were best friends too. If one of us needed company, the other would be there. It wasn't dating." Nicole finished, scratching the back of her head awkwardly.
"So, friends with benefits?" Waverly asked, and Nicole nodded. "No feelings?" She continued, and Nicole paused. It wasn't love, for sure. But it wasn't nothing. They comforted each other, but it wasn't laced with anything else.
"We weren't in love." Nicole said, and she supposed that was enough, because although Waverly was frowning, and although she seemed like she wanted to ask more, she nodded.
"Can I have a slice of your pizza? You can have some of mine." Waverly asked, and just like that, the tension vanished. Nicole smiled, offering the box over to her, and taking one of hers in the process.
Nicole did really love a quiet night. But she would give every single one of those nights away if it meant that she got a night like this in return.
